Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-06-26
THE GREAT STRIKE
WHAT The AFFAIR Has COST
Nearly $2,5OO,OOO Lost 10 thsasn in
Wages. -
BUT ONE POINT CONCEDED.
The Exact Situation Detailed for Our
Readers.

CHICAGO, June 25.-The great strike OF
the bricklayers has ended, so far as the
men are concerned. 1t now remains to
see whether the bosses viii take the men
back as the demands of the employers re-
ceived no consideration whatever nt the
meeting at which the strike wa declared
off, as will be seer by the following fsOlu-
tons, only passed by a small majOfty:-
ResoLred, That we withdraw a d mand
for the Saturday payday and declare tho
strike off.
The resolution was accompanied by one
explanation that its passage was not a sign
of weakening, and that a good many at
first opposed to it because it would create
that impression, but other reasons prevail
ed, =,
As the enacting clause in the material
mems and contractors agreement reads
During the strike" the removal OF the
cause of the strike lets them out. The
men claim the stone pool Is the power IN
the lockout, and in pursuance of the advice
of some of the best lawyers and Judges IN
the city suits will be Immediately institut-
ed against all the dealers in the comblna-
ton, the end of the strike leaving them no
excuse for combining. Should the bosses
attempt to do anything to deprive rhe men
OF the eight-hour system they swear they
will 90 out for two years.
Few would think what loss and misery
have been brought on those least able to
afford it by the demand of the bricklayers
that they be paid Saturday instead OF Mon
day or Tuesday, so that the saloons might
get the money that ought to go to their
families.
Following is @ history of the strike, and
a careful estimate of some of the losses it
involved:
Ia January the Carpenters Council,
representing all the branches of the car
penters' unions, began preparations for a
general strike so sOOn rs the building sea
son was well under way. April 4 was
the date fixed for a general strike of all the
union carpenters, and the programme was
carried out to the letter. Fully 4 200 car
penters Quit work, and trade was com
pletely paralyzed until April Is, when a
treaty was made with a sham contractors
organization and the majority of the men
returned to work upon various terms.
Loss in wages, at $3.50 a day, Sl2O, 600.
From April Is to June l about 500 car
penters were idle owing to the strike OF
the hodcarriers and bricklayers. Loss in
wages, SAT, 500. At about this time the
carpenters began to feel the full effect OF
the bricklayers' strike. New buildings
were entirely stopped and hundreds of car
penters were rendered idle every week.
From June ! to June % it would be safe
to estimate that . 500 carpenters have been
idle. Loss in wages, $l37, 500. Total
from April 4 to June %, $305, 600.
The victory claimed by the carpenters,
April Is, so enthused the Hodcarriers'
Union that they could not refrain from
making a demand. They announced that
on and after May l they should demand
80 cents an hour for bricklayers' labOrers
and 35 cents an hour for plasterers' labor
ers. This wa done, with the result that
1000 laborers and hodcarriers were idle
from May l to June %, forty-eight days at
50 q day. Total loss in wages, 1884, 600.
1t is true, as claimel by the officers of the
union, that in many cases their members
secured work upon bitches and the streets,
but only by displacing other men who were
Obliged in consequence to remain idle.
At = o'clock Saturday morning, April
80, ninety-eight of the 1000 members of
the Bricklayers' Union decided by a vote
of 66 to 81 to make a formal demand for a
Saturday payday. The sixty-six members
who were responsible for this action con-
stitute the gang Of the Bricklayers'
Union, and should be held directly re-
spOnsible for the calamitous results which
have followed. The Master Masons' AS
ISOLATION, realizing that a Saturday payday
meant a Sunday-and generally a Monday
and Tuesday-drunk, decided not to grant
the request. They informed the union to
that effect, and further said that it was
almost impossible to make up the payroll
upon that day. This did not satisfy the
walking delegates Of the Bricklayers'
Union. At the next meeting the Ger
mans, who did not fully understand the
| situation, were bulldOZed and ~inveigled
into r~atifying the decision of the gang
which had full sway at the previous meet
ing. Thursday, May IL, fully $500
bricklayers were Idle and with few eXcep,
tons have been so since. A safe estimate
would be that 5000 bricklayers were idle
from May II to June 25-thirty. eight
days at $500 a day. Total loss in wages
S4lO, 400.
The most conspicuous victims of the
series of strikes just enumerated have been
the brick manufacturers and their EN-.
ployes. They realized when the brick.
layers strike began that their only saliva,
ton lay in s~uspending work. This was
generally done May Is, and the yards are
now Just commencing work with the hope
that the strike. has worn itself out. Ter
thousand men were directly affected by
this involuntary lockout, which lasted
t~hirty-four working days, with about the
following result: One thousand skilled
brickmakers, So day for thirty-four DAYS,
Sl7O, 900; 5000 labOrers at $l.T5 q day,
$476, 600; 1000 Transfers at 81 a day,
$l36, 600. Total loss in wages S7S2, 900.
The manufacturers are losers by thous.
ands OF dollars on account of the expense
in keeping the horses employed in the
yards.
The stoneyards have felt the effect ofthe
strike severely, although there has been no
trouble between the employers and their
men. Fully 1000 stonecutters earning 81
a day have been laid off for thirty days, a
loss in wages of $4,000. Five hundred
galvanized iron cornice men earning IS a
day; 500 gravel roOfers at $3.50 day; 200
plasterers at 81 a day; $50 fathers at $50
a day; 600 painters at 81. so a day. It is
estimated by the mill men that in cOnse-
uuence of the strike it has been necessary
to discharge 1000 mill hands, who will
average $3.50 a day. The zane condition
prevails in the local iron industry. The
foundries making a speciality of architect
ural iron work have in many cases shut
down. Five hundred molders earning s.
a day is a low estimate.
The following table contains a few items
that are necessarily guess work, but are
certainly not exaggerated:
Carpenters ooo,VoS
HOdcarrlers-....--. S1SS
brlcklayers 1LDsv
...------.--"-- to@soN
..........--.sss- - AlIiVN